BETFRED.COM, based in Gibraltar, will not pay out on the bets placed by Barney Curley’s relatives aspart of the Newmarket trainer’s £4 million coup last May.
This comes despite the fact that Betfred’s UK betting shops have paid out and that, following an investigation, the BHA concluded that no rules ofracing had been breached. Betfred, who on Friday were declared the new owners of the Tote, declined to comment, stating: “It is with our lawyers.”
On June 1, Betfred.com’s lawyers informed the five account holders, four of whom are related to Curley, that bets showing a profit of more than £823,000 would be voided under the company’s rule 10, which states: “Any person or group of persons acting in an attempt to defraud Betfred.com will have their bets voided.”
The decision followed a letter dated May 27 from the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority which accused Curley of deception, the account holders of fraud, and the BHA of misapplying its own rules.
Andrew Montague, a Northern Ireland-based solicitor acting for the claimants, said: “We have already instructed our Gibraltar agents, Triay & Triay lawyers, to proceed with an application to the Supreme Court of Gibraltar for a judicial review of the GRA’s handling of the case, which has been inter alia, ultra vires, unlawful, irrational and procedurally and substantively unfair.
“The investigation by the GRA is flawed and has been conducted from the outset in a biased way and has chosen to ignore the findings of both the BHA and Ibas[Independent Betting Adjudication Service].”
The case, which has soured relations between the BHA and GRA, has wider ramifications because it demonstrates that UK-based punters betting with offshore bookmakers may find theirbets are treated differently.
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